July 18, 1985

A State Supreme Court justice, ruling in a New York City case, yesterday upheld efforts by advocates for the homeless to enforce supervision for thousands of young people between the ages of 18 and 21 who leave foster care. Although state law requires supervision under the foster-care system for people up to age 21, the judge found that the city had failed to provide adequate care beyond age 18. At that age, those in foster care are free to leave the program. In the case yesterday, Justice Elliott J. Wilk in Manhattan wrote that six young people between 18 and 21 who were discharged from foster care and subsequently became homeless must be allowed to return to such care or be provided some other form of supervision. Justice Wilk found that these six people had been discharged from foster care by the city before they were ready.

El Salvador's Air Force has come to play an essential role in the Government's war against leftist rebel forces and has almost doubled in size in the last year, according to both United States and Salvadoran officials. The number of bombs and rockets used in combat is increasing, and American-provided helicopter and AC-47 gunships are now commonly deployed against guerrilla units. Some Western officials contend that the army might have lost the war without the sharply increased air power provided by the United States in recent years, especially a new fleet of helicopters used to place troops rapidly in rebel areas. Used in Rebel Strongholds In the last year, the air force appears to have used its new muscle mostly in concentrated attacks on areas regarded by the Government as guerrilla strongholds. Such attacks have become the focus of criticism of the Salvadoran Government. Several human-rights organizations have accused the Salvadoran Air Force of bombing civilians in guerrilla areas and of trying to drive rebel supporters into refugee camps.

The BankAmerica Corporation, the nation's largest bank company after Citicorp, stunned the financial world yesterday by announcing that it lost $338 million in the second quarter. The loss was one of the largest in banking history, and appeared to reflect pressure by Federal regulators on banks to bolster their reserves against the possibility of loans going bad, even at the cost of a drop in profits. The loss was caused by an extraordinary $892 million addition to these loan-loss reserves, which now total $1.5 billion. Bank analysts said the addition had been made under pressure from regulators.

''I've never known anyone from Tennessee who wanted to retire to New York.''

Alma H. Johnson, her hair shot through with gray, stood on her stoop on Yates Road in South Jamaica and surveyed the midafternoon activity. She muttered disapprovingly about an illegal curbside car repair business and chastised a little girl playing near a recently purchased home. ''Teresa, don't be hitting a ball on that house anymore,'' Mrs. Johnson said. ''It belongs to somebody.'' ''They all know me,'' Mrs. Johnson said of the neighborhood children. ''When I see them do something that's not right I try to correct them, teach them morality and respect for other people.''